By Daily Sports Nigeria on June 17, 2024

Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has jumped above Tyson Fury into first place in the latest WBC heavyweight rankings with the ‘Gypsy King’ now ranked second, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Fury lost his WBC heavyweight title when Oleksandr Usyk beat him in May’s undisputed clash in Saudi Arabia.

Having been previously ranked as champion, Fury has now fallen into the challenger pecking order and has been placed as the second-ranked heavyweight contender by the WBC.

The organisation has placed him below long-term British-Nigerian rival Joshua, who sits behind Usyk, whom he has lost to twice.

Joshua has back-to-back impressive wins over Francis Ngannou and Otto Wallin under his belt, and may well compete for the vacant IBF title against Daniel Dubois in September.

Agit Kabayel rounds out the top three after his impressive underdog win over Frank Sanchez on the Fury vs Usyk bill in May.

Zhilei Zhang sits in fourth after his huge KO win over Deontay Wilder, while Nigerian heavyweight boxer Efe Ajagba makes up the top five holding the WBC ‘silver’ trinket belt.

Jared Anderson is in sixth with Martin Bakole and Kabayel’s rival Sanchez ranked at no.7 and no.8. Joe Joyce keeps a place in the top ten in ninth, while rising star Bakhodir Jalolov completes the list.

It is another damaging blow for the ‘Gypsy King’ who had held the belt since beating Wilder in 2020. He had since made some big defences against the likes of Derek Chisora, Dillian Whyte and Francis Ngannou on his march to the undisputed clash.

Luckily for the Briton, he will get a shot at immediate redemption on December 21 when he is signed to face Usyk in a sequel. It will be a chance to earn back his precious WBC belt, and hand Usyk his first career defeat, just as the Ukrainian inflicted on him in their previous encounter.

Fury is now back in the gym six months out from the clash and has vowed to rewrite his name in the history books.

Source Punch Ng

Posted June 17, 2024

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